Traders said investors focused their attention on small-capitalization shares. The second-board index, which tracks small stocks, climbed 5.90, or 3.5%, to 173.42.

The encouraging rise in Malaysia's manufacturing sales for March was already factored into share prices, traders added. Malaysia's statistics department said manufacturing sales for the month rose 24% to 20.9 billion ringgit from February and was up 6.1% from March 1998.